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A Whimsical Castle Is Brought Back to Life—In Connecticut Author

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A Whimsical Castle Is Brought Back to Life—In Connecticut Author PROJECT REPORT: GILLETTE CASTLE A Whimsical Castle is Brought Back To Life in Connecticut PROJECT: Gillette Castle, East Haddam, Conn. ARCHITECTS: Phase I: Roger S. Clarke, AIA, Hartford, Conn. Phase II: Barkin Andrade Architects, New Haven, Conn. David Barkin, AIA, project architect CONTRACTOR: Kronenberger & Sons Restoration, Middletown, Conn.; James Sabith, project supervisor illiam H. Gillette, the actor best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes a generation W before Basil Rathbone, left an- other legacy — his eccentric 24-room medieval-style fieldstone castle in East Haddam, Conn., on a 122-acre estate overlooking the Connecticut River. Now owned by the state of Connecticut and maintained as a public park, the 80-year-old structure recently underwent a three-year, $11.5 million restoration. It reopened on May 27, 2002, Memorial Day. Designed by Gillette and built from 1914- 1919, the castle was modeled on the medieval ruins of a German fortress on the Rhine, with sturdy towers and turrets. It reflects Gillette's vivid imagination, with features such as trick locks, a secret room, a hidden staircase, and 42 doors that feature elaborate hand-carved latches designed by Gillette himself. Gillette also designed the built-in furniture, including a dining room table that moves on tracks, heavy oak bureaus in the bedrooms, and an elaborate wood bar in the lounge that locks with an ingenious mechanism. The estate also includes a three-mile narrow-gauge railroad that Gillette used to show guests around the property. Gillette died in 1937, and the State of Connecticut purchased the property in 1943. Over the years, the I 4,000-sq.ft. castle began showing its age; the deterio- ration became so extensive that it became unsafe and was closed in 1998. "The castle is unprecedented in terms of its style," Designed by William H. Gillette, the Victorian actor known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, Gillette Castle was modeled after a medieval fortress in Germany. A crew of 1_5 masons and five carpenters worked for five years, from 1914-1919, to build the 24-room, $1-million mansion. When he was dying, Gillette said he would rather see the house sold at a loss than see it go to "some blithering saphead" who had no appreciation for it. says David Barkin, project architect for Phase II of the Another part of this phase included the restoration restoration. "It doesn't fall into any architectural style; of the pavilion where Gillette had stored his narrow- it's a reflection of William Gillette and his eccentrici- gauge railroad. The train was sold to an amusement ties. His chosen method of construction was bearing park many years ago, but it has recently been reacquired wall with fieldstone masonry rubble. The walls were by the State and is being restored. The pavilion is now over two feet thick, and there was a lot of water used primarily as a picnic area. Made of stone and native infiltration over time that had caused a lot of damage. cedar poles with cedar shakes, the building had to be The challenge was trying to preserve a building that had taken down and rebuilt by Kronenberger & Sons. New flawed construction." cedar truss framing was installed, and one of Kronen- Phase I of the restoration project involved the exte- berger's artists hand-carved the two missing wood cats rior of the stone parapet, roofing, and the railroad that had once adorned the roof. station on the grounds. It was directed by Roger S. The next step was the restoration of the stone walls Clarke, AIA, of Hartford, Conn., at a cost of $2.3 leading to the castle. Engineers Szewczak Associates of million. Portions of the parapet walls (some as tall as Avon, Conn., replicated the stone walls and stone arch, 12 ft.) had to be removed so through-wall flashing using reinforced concrete to look like the original Project supervisor Jim Sabith stands in front of Gillette Castle could be installed. The walls were then rebuilt to look fieldstone. The mortar on the top is designed to age during the restoration, which took three years and cost $11.5 mil- like the original castle. The whimsical dragon in the and darken with weather to match the small original lion. The west and south elevations required repointing, which was wall over the veranda area was also rebuilt. A bluestone segment left standing. "quite an undertaking," according to Sabith, because of the random fieldstone layout. Kronenberger, Sabith's firm, removed and re- patio that was not original to the castle was removed Phase II involved repointing (and rebuilding) the placed about one inch of the mortar. and replaced with crushed quartz and granite rock with castle wall, installing new heating and fire-protection a binder from Arizona, to give it a more natural look. continued on page 18 AUTUMN 2002 ♦ 16 ♦ PERIOD HOMES GITTFILL CASTLE, continued from page 16 All of the woodwork, including the ornate wood repairing missing areas, stabilizing weak areas, and doors, had to be washed with a mild detergent and coating the material with an invisible varnish to protect systems, and restoration of the interior of the building. hand-rubbed with a urethane finish. The castle's 42 it from UV rays. Using raffia from Madagascar in areas David Barkin of Barkin Andrade Architects of New doors (all designed by Gillette) are each unique. In where reweaving was necessary, the team rewove 12 Haven, Conn., was the architect for this work. The addition, about half of the fir and oak floors were yards for the library walls alone. The wallcovering was castle walls, which are 24-30 in. thick, were repointed rebuilt; the others were restored. "The woodwork had also dyed, painted, and stencilled in bright turquoise, by Kronenberger & Sons, and 140 light fixtures were to be washed three to four times," says Sabith, "to get orange, pink, and green. cleaned and restored by Griffin Bros. of Collinsville, years of general dirt and grease from people's hands off. "One big challenge," says Barkin, "was making the Conn. Seventy-five percent of these fixtures were hand- It was then resealed with penetrating urethane oil." building meet the life-safety requirements for a mu- carved. James Sabith, Kronenberger's superintendent "The castle has a gingerbread quality," says Barkin, seum. There were three pages of violations from the fire for the project, points out that each fixture was docu- "and has been open to the public for 50 years. A lot of marshal's office. You can't make a building like this mented, tagged, removed, rewired, and then reinstalled pieces had been picked off so they had to be recarved meet the codes in the same way you would with new in the castle. or re-created." The New York City preservation firm, construction. You can't change the width of the corri- Allanbrook Benic Czajka, was brought in to provide dor, for example." The firm did add a fire-alarm system guidance here. throughout the building and a sprinkler system with The windows were another big project. Kronenber- 9,000 gallons of on-site water storage. "The sprinkler ger & Sons removed, repaired, and restored 80 wood system is almost invisible," he says. "It's solid copper windows with either diamond-shaped or rectangular where exposed so it blends in with the architecture." panes; where necessary, they replaced the glass. Paint Kronenberger's Sabith points out that the installa- colors was microscopically analyzed, and the windows tion of the new sprinkler system, electrical wiring, were repainted to match the original color — a dark plumbing and hot-air heating required that portions of charcoal gray. The muntins and mullions, some as deep walls, ceilings, and floors be removed and then put as four inches, were restored with epoxy. "It was not back. just a question of taking the windows down," says Barkin Andrade also provided a new egress from the Sabith. Each piece of glass had to be labeled and third floor to the outside, so an ugly fire escape could numbered so it could go back into its original sash, in be removed. "This is sympathetic with the castle," both the doors and windows." Barkin notes. "It's a very intricate stair with special metal railings and fieldstone paving on the landings and One of the interesting aspects of the castle was the stair treads." raffia-type material that covers 4,000 sq.ft. of its walls. At the time the castle was built, this material was sold Originally called Seventh Sister, named for the hill it stands on, the Gillette estate is now once again open as inexpensive floor covering, but Gillette favored using to the public. The renovation and restoration, which Ihor Budzinski, master carpenter with Kronenberger, carved the it on the walls. Over the years, it had deteriorated two missing wood cats — this black one and another gray one — severely and become discolored. Camile Breeze, of involved the highest artistic standards and quite a bit that had sat on top of Gillette's outdoor train pavilion. Originally Museum Textile Services of Andover, Mass., directed of one-of-a-kind work, was not, even remotely, as Gil- called "Grand Central Station," the pavilion was the main board- the restoration of the wallcoverings. Her team of four lette (Sherlock Holmes) might have said, "Elementary, ing area for Gillette's miniature train. Now rebuilt, it now serves worked for more than six months, cleaning the surface, my dear Watson." t Martha McDonald primarily as a picnic area. A built-in oak bureau designed by Gillette and sisal wallcovering are two of the outstanding features of this bedroom.
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